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Stress! It's all in the Mind

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Stress! It's all in the Mind

Stress! It’s all in the mind!

If our stress is tucked away in the grey matter, ensconced in bone cranium & adorned (in most cases) with product coated hair, then there’s nothing to worry about, is there? If it does ever begin to leak out to the surface in the form of worry lines, bags under the eyes & a twitching lip, then we can get out the shades, slap on concealer & no one can tell what’s going on inside.

Hidden Depths - By having good mental health, we have good physical health & vice versa. Some may not agree with me here, but I think it’s a lot easier to look after your physical heath than your mental health. You can see when you’re getting fatter or your wound is healing, but you cannot always see when you are stressed or dealing with emotional scars.

The Mysteries of the Mind - Apart from the odd case of open brain surgery, our grey matter does not see light of day. It works in the dark, confined spaces of our heads; unaided & subconsciously keeping us alive. It gives us life choices that we can ignore & just exist, or take & live life to the full.

The very fact that our brain is inaccessible makes it mysterious. Despite it being intimately close to organs that enable us to see, taste, smell & hear, we can’t feel or sense it working without the aid of technology, or so most of us think!

Listen Up -Our auditory faculties are placed at either side of our skulls, level with the base of our brains, but of course, you know that! They exist, mainly to help us balance & to receive information from our environment in the form of sound waves. They can also be used internally to listen to the workings of our minds, if we care to.

Of course, the ears cannot hear the crackling of the synapses as the sound waves are transported to our auditory cortex. They are not designed to that specification. What they can hear, should we take the time to listen is ….. nothing!

Shhhhh! - Silence is recognised as being a restorative process for the nervous system, helps to maintain energy, conditions our minds to be more adaptive & responsive to the fast pace of life. To put it simply, silence reduces stress.

5 easy ways to listen to your mind & reduce stress

1. Media fasting – take time to switch off all media for a set time on a regular basis either daily or weekly.

2. Meditation – not as ‘far out’ as you may think. There are various forms of meditation, so look around & find one that suits you. *

3. Reverse ear bud operation – instead of putting buds in your ears to listen to music, put them in to reduce external noise such as the chatter in a busy office, traffic & congestion noises or machinery noise.

4. Listen to nature – put a coat on & open a window or go outside to listen to what is naturally around you. Bird song, leaves in the wind, waves on the shore.

5. Place your fingers over your tragus (fleshy part at the front of the external opening of the ear). Listen for a few mindful minutes to the sounds within. Take this a stage further by closing your eyes & making a low hum.